Marriage and Permaculture have more in common than you think.

After 4 years of marriage and 5 years of growing food, I've realized they follow the exact same principles.

Here's what your garden can teach you about love: A (lovely) THREAD 🧵❣️ 1. Observe enough before you act

💕Observing the patterns of your land (or your partner) gives you the information to act on what needs attention - not just react.
💕It's about stopping the urge to "fix" things and understanding the roots that allow you to implement targeted, permanent improvements.
💕Long-term relationships - with land and partner - require lots of observation, communication and iteration.

Rushing leads to costly mistakes in both.

This plant is worth $50+ per year in free fertilizer.
But 99% of gardeners rip it out as a "nuisance weed".

While neighbors buy bags of synthetic nutrients, smart gardeners grow their own soil amendments.

Here's why comfrey is permaculture gold for your garden: A THREAD 🧵

https://twitter.com/CryptoPrepper/status/1968705835334291696

1. Meet Comfrey: The Deep-Mining Machine

This unassuming perennial has roots that plunge 10+ feet deep, accessing nutrients other plants can't reach:
• Taproot mines potassium, phosphorus, and trace minerals
• Accumulates nutrients in its leaves at concentrations rivaling expensive fertilizers
• Brings deep soil wealth to the surface naturally
• One plant can yield 4-5 harvests per season

It's like having a living fertilizer factory in your garden.

How a permaculture farm PROFITED from a 100-year flood.

While 1,000 houses in Lismore got demolished by 14-meter floodwaters, our teacher @geofflawton_ Zaytuna Farm turned catastrophe into abundance.

Here's how proper water design makes floods your ally: 🧵 A THREAD 1. Most properties fight water. Smart design captures it.
• Zaytuna recorded 775mm in 24 hours (180mm in ONE hour). Traditional farms would be devastated by this volume
• Permaculture earthworks slowed, spread, and sank the water
• What destroys others becomes fertility when you're prepared

Design for the 100-year event, handle everything smaller easily.

Imagine your soil is so compacted that water just runs off instead of soaking in. Your vegetables struggle to grow despite your best efforts.

What do you do?

You plant the living tiller vegetable that breaks through hardpan 6+ feet deep. Meet Daikon Radish: A THREAD 🧵 What makes daikon special for permaculture?

This white radish (literally "big root" in Japanese) is a soil renovation tool:
• Penetrates compacted clay and hardpan layers
• Creates natural drainage channels
• Brings deep nutrients to the surface
• Leaves behind organic matter when it decomposes
• Can grow 2-4 feet long in just one season

It's like hiring a rehabilitation crew for your soil—but free!

Want a fruiting hedge? Edible privacy screen? Pollinator magnet?

Aronia (Chokeberry) might be what you are looking for.

This shrub has a punch of resilience, many health benefits, and lots of permaculture potential.

Why haven’t you heard more about it?
Let’s change that. 🫐🧵👇 1. What makes Aronia special?

Native to North America, Aronia thrives in large parts of Europe as well. It’s adapted to both wetlands and dry woodland edges.

• Tolerates temperatures as low as -25°C
• Endures both drought and flooding
• Suitable for city gardens, wild edges, and cold climatesIt brings beauty all year: white spring blossoms, dark berries, and brilliant red autumn leaves.

Switched to organic gardening but still buying bags every spring?

You’re still tied to the broken industrial system.
Real independence starts with soil that feeds itself.

Here’s how to break that cycle—and grows the most nutrient-dense food you’ll ever eat: A THREAD🧵 1. Organic matter without minerals is like a house without a foundation.

• Humus provides soil structure, but plants need 40+ mineral elements to thrive
• Beautiful compost can't supply what isn't there—you need mineral diversity for true fertility
• Most garden "failures" are actually mineral deficiencies masquerading as diseases

Rich soil needs both organic matter and mineral wealth.

What if I told you there's ONE material that:
• Eliminates 90% of weeds
• Builds rich soil automatically
• Cuts watering needs in half
• Reduces garden work by 80%

It's MULCH.

Here's how proper mulching transforms your garden into a self-maintaining ecosystem: A THREAD 🧵 1. Bare soil is your garden's biggest energy drain.

• Uncovered earth loses water 10x faster than mulched surfaces
• Direct sunlight kills beneficial soil microorganisms essential for plant health
• Every watering session becomes a race against evaporation instead of deep soil penetration

Naked soil burns money and nutrients into thin air.

Gardening industry convinced you soil is dirt that needs constant feeding.

LIE. Soil is a living ecosystem that builds itself - if you partner with it.

Conventional soil management traps you in expensive amendment cycles. Here's how to create permanent fertility: 🧵 A THREAD 1. Soil can't be manufactured in laboratories—only living systems create it.

Deep-rooted plants mine minerals from subsoil and cycle them to the surface
Earthworms, fungi, bacteria, and microbes transform organic matter into stable humus
This biological process creates 2-4 tonnes of soil per hectare annually in natural systems

You can't buy what only life can make.